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U.S. National Library of MedicineNational Institutes of Health

Question: What is MedlinePlus?


Answer:

  • The National Library of Medicine, a part of the National Institutes of Health, created and maintains MedlinePlus to assist you in locating authoritative health information.

  • MedlinePlus pages contain carefully selected links to Web resources with health information on over 750 topics.

    • The Health Topic pages also include links to current news on the topic and related information. You can also find preformulated searches of the MEDLINE/PubMed database, which allow you to find references to latest health professional articles on your topic.

  • The A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia brings health consumers an extensive library of medical images as well as over 4,000 of articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries.

  • The Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary allows you to look up definitions and spellings of medical words.

  • Drug and Supplement Information is available from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) via MedMaster, and Natural Standard.

    • MedMaster provide extensive information about more than 1,000 brand name and generic prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including side effects, dosing, drug interactions, precautions and storage for each drug.

    • Natural Standard is an evidence-based, peer-reviewed collection of information on alternative treatments. MedlinePlus has over 100 monographs on herbs and supplements.

  • Interactive tutorials from the Patient Education Institute explain over 165 procedures and conditions in easy-to-read language.

  • MedlinePlus follows a list of guidelines for the inclusion of Web sites; available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/criteria.html

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